Chrome For Android Now Has Safe Browsing On As Standard

Safe Browsing in Chrome is not a new feature for users of the service on desktop, but in regards to the Android app safe browsing has never been available to use in full capacity until now. Google won’t force users to engage with safe browsing all of the time, they do however set safe browsing on as a standard default feature in the Android version of Chrome now, meaning it will be enabled from the get go. Luckily Google wants to keep the choice factor in play and will still allow users to disable this if they wish, although it’s likely a better idea to keep in intact as it can help to alert you to potentially malicious web pages that are only there for nefarious purposes.

Today Google has announced that Chrome for Android will officially have safe browsing which can be ticked on and off from the settings menu inside of the Android Chrome app. This is also the first app to feature safe browsing with what sounds like more on the way, as Google notes that Chrome is the first app to utilize the safe browsing feature that is actually part of Google Play Services version 8.1. You will need to be on Chrome for Android version 46 to get it, but the Android version of Chrome has already been updated to Chrome 47 so there shouldn’t be many people left without safe browsing turned on.

If Google is able to detect that a site you are about to browse is potentially malicious, they produce an alert on screen in bright red with a stop sign that makes this otherwise red flag immediately noticeable and impossible to miss. This should ensure that no user, experienced or otherwise, accidentally stumbles upon unsafe internet sites that are caught by Google’s browsing security measure. Google also mentions that enabling safe browsing still keeps users privacy protected like the desktop version, so those generally concerned about it needn’t worry. You may or may not have seen this alert screen before but should you ever encounter a website which Google deems unsafe, they’ll give you a pretty easy method of turning back to safety with a giant button towards the bottom of the screen.